{books} bbw readings

We’re nearing the end, my friend. Have you read something someone wouldn’t want you to just because you can? Hmm, maybe I should be specific here, because the aforementioned could include diaries and the like…

Have you read a challenged or banned book this week? I did quite the opposite as Pamela; or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson was quite the literary event in the 18th century. Okay, so it had its retractors, a housemaid marrying into the upper class was terribly scandalous–which is probably a better reason to challenge a book than insufferable main characters…

Similarly, I read the early-1600s play The Roaring Girl by Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker. Okay, this one really is naughty. The number of euphemisms for sexual parts and acts alone…

so no review from me (but soonish). I do have a few links:

Melissa atBook Nut writes, “I was doing a Banned Books Week display and I got to thinking about what I read and why I read it, and what my kids read.” this prompted her post: “5 Reasons Why Reading YA Makes Me a Better Parent.” It is a nice non-confrontational counter-argument for book banning parents. #3 has been proven to be effective in our house, too.

Logan at Rememorandomwrote this exquisite review of The Handmaid’s Tale, not necessarily for bbw, but it works because it is challenged/banned… which is so annoying because Margaret Atwood does have “superior skills as a writer and storyteller.”

Melissa at Avid Readerreviews a challenged/banned book for the week: Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me Ultima, “The book touches on many issues that adolescents struggle with, like the division between the life your parents want for you and the life you want.” good stuff.

Suey at It’s All About Booksgot a jump on the week with a post on Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why, she muses, “I guess some people believe that we shouldn’t read about tough subjects. And because of our freedoms, they don’t have to, but some of us figure we can learn by reading about such things. And therefore learn how to better our lives in some way.” yes.

Two on Mark Twain:

1..Book Case asks an editor of the Autobiography of Mark Twain Benjamin Griffin to comment on Mark Twain and Huckleberry Finn‘s controversies. It’s a nice short piece that include’s Twain’s thoughts on the banning of his book, anticipating what he would say now to the reasons currently posited, “This is certain: Mark Twain wouldn’t understand our solicitousness about “comfort level.” He might have wondered what comfort had to do with school, the discomforts of which had caused him to pack out at age twelve. ”

The Book Case asked author Beth Kery to talk about Erotic Romance for BBW, which I thought was a good idea considering its relevance. “Yes, the appeal of erotic romance is, by and large, the fantasy element. However, that does not diminish the validity of the content. If millions of adult readers (largely women) are clamoring to explore this exciting, perhaps liberating genre of fiction, I can’t imagine why a library would stand in their way. If they are acting as gatekeepers, then the question is begged: whom or what are they protecting?”